wheels on your homemade sled?

[Hog Daddy]

I have an old homemade wooden ice sled.  Sometimes I need to go over rough ground, no snow to get to the fishing hole.  Anybody out there got some pics or slick ideas on how to do this?  I am thinking some way to raise and lower wheels when needed...and using some wider rubber wheels.  I am hoping you guys have figured this out for me... so I don't have to think too hard.

[augerfeet]

Do some research on it here I was just looking at the kits that they make to do that.I think the wheel kit with your frame was around $675.00.You weld the tire kit to your frame and you can lower the frame down to the ice when you get to where you going.I was thinking about it my self I thought it was pretty cool.

[Madpuppy]

$675.00 ouch, if you spend that kind of $ might as well throw out a little more $ and get an old quad. I would imagine your looking at retro fitting something homemade, correct?

[Hog Daddy]

Yep... I am talking a small sled you pull by hand. It gets heavy with all the crap I put in it.   I want to do it cheap.  I sometimes have to pull it on dry ground...up and down some hills to get to the water.  My runners are steel...so not worried about tearing them up...just need to make the land crossing easier.  I am thinking like making a couple brackets for the side with 2 holes ...one for on ice....one for off ice...and maybe a couple wheels like you might see on a moving dolly...3 inches wide or so...then some bolts with wing nuts or maybe permanent bolts and drill a hole in them to place a quick clip or something to pin them on ...then remove store when on ice. Another idea might be to get something like a boat trailer jack...and hook an axel on it with 2 wheels...crank up and down as needed...however I would have to mount this on the back.   Nuther ques... where to mount them... in the center of weight distibution or on back or where?  Need your ideas.

[Madpuppy]

I'll do some thinkin', I'm needing something like this myself.

[Hog Daddy]

My box is a hand me down from my pappy...circa 1969 I believe.  It has steel runners on it from an old childs sled that are set the width of the box which is about 16" wide.  I get along good on our ice here... it is just from where I park down to the lake sometimes makes for rough going.  Did a search on here and found one guy had a dowel rod attached to his sled skis and then just stuck on some cheap plastic wheels...looked to be 5 inches or so in diameter...and clipped them on with a pin....and could remove them when he needed.  His sled was light though... a lot of pvc pipe...so I am afraid I would want something more substantial... like threaded rod or bolts to hold the wheels on.  Another idea on the bracket idea...was to saw out some slots with ledges one them....slide the wheel bolt down the slot to the lower hook ledge to run on ground...then slide up to an upper hook ledge when on ice.... or something like that.

[fishinjim]

Here are two sled I have made the first wooden rotted from sitting out side all the time, the second one the wheels are removeable with a pin.

[Bellybuster]

have a look at the bike trailers for pulling your kids, the wheels come off with a pin setup. Would be very easy to fit up for your sled

[Hog Daddy]

keep the ideas coming.  Thanks for the pics.  I was thinking maybe use something like the training wheels / brackets off a kids bike... or cheaper still just a couple sections of 2X4 maybe a foot long with wheels bolted on one end with carriage bolts, and then bolt the other end to the side of the plywood box so it would swing up and down.  Maybe drill a couple indexing holes in the 2X4 and box....when on ice, pin it in the up position...when on land swing the 2X4 down and pin it in the down position. 

[Bellybuster]

yes that would work....similar to the setup I built for my table saw, you just lift the end and the wheels swing down and over center

[BASSandICE65]

 I made my own set for going over roads or dirt paths and it works great

                     


                     


      It's just a wooden oak dowel with clip pins through it the wheels are easily removed any questions I'll try and answer

[chrisk]

If your going cross country thru brush or uneven ground go with big wheels.

[Skipper]

Forget wheels, use this stuff as runners

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=73&Page=1

[Hog Daddy]

BASSandICE65....I like the diameter of those wheels.  That should get you thru the pot holes and over humps.  You obviously designed your sled to have minimal weight.  I am assuming that you have no problem lifting front end to pull or do you just let the front ride down?  I am thinking of mounting more toward center but still front heavy.

[Hog Daddy]

hmmm.. skipper...that stuff looks slick...however would requre major redo on my sled me thinks.  How's it pull thru mud?

[highsparks]

    I also recommend the plastic skids.   I have hyfax on my portable shack and dragging it across a paved parking lot is a breeze.   I have a couple private lakes where we have to cross yards and landscaping and its a breeze....

[BASSandICE65]

BASSandICE65....I like the diameter of those wheels.  That should get you thru the pot holes and over humps.  You obviously designed your sled to have minimal weight.  I am assuming that you have no problem lifting front end to pull or do you just let the front ride down?  I am thinking of mounting more toward center but still front heavy.

Hogdaddy The sled I made is huge and is fully loaded it is heavy and the wheels support it well. It balances very well and is not front heavy if it was I would put wheels in the front.  You can mount wheels towards the middle will work just as well. If you need more support try using a metal rod instead of wood. You have to expieriment to find the best method also the wheels came from an industrial trash can with wheels from the local trash company I have a friend and he hooked me up

[Skipper]

hmmm.. skipper...that stuff looks slick...however would requre major redo on my sled me thinks.  How's it pull thru mud?

Pulls on pavement pretty good... I have not seen mud in a few months.... 8)

That stuff is as tough as nails and slick as snot.

[BASSandICE65]

You can see I used pipe holders mounted to the skis that are a larger diameter thatn the dowel for easy removal

                     

[smitty0312]

Here are two sled I have made the first wooden rotted from sitting out side all the time, the second one the wheels are removeable with a pin.
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

Fishinjim, the second sled you built, how did fasten the pvc  to the skis? Epoxy? I just picked up a pair of down hill skis at my local thrift shop for just $5 ! I like the pvc idea. Thanks again for any help! Smitty

[snohiker]

heres pic of mine if i ever get to finsh it

[fishinjim]

Smitty, I used 1 1/2 in pvc end caps and drilled 4 screws into each.

[bigpapamike]

I wonder if the tires and brackets off of a old lawnmower would work. They would be adjustable up and down but I dont think you need the adjustability. They would roll on hard stuff and your shis would take over in the snow.

[lightningz]

I experimented with wheels for my sled and found that they either have to retract out of the way or be removable. If you don't get them way out of the way they tend to drag in the deeper snow. I came up with a design similar to the one they use on the trailered fish houses. There is a removable pin that secures the wheels down and when the wheels are rotated up the pin is reinserted to keep them up.

[IceBalls]

We used an old undercarriage from a baby carriage.... just removed the part that holds the baby.  Got it at a garge sale for almost nothing.
Our Jet Sled fit right on the undercarriage part...... just left the wheels at the shoreline when we hit the ice.  Turned out to be too much of a PIA carrying it around with us, but, if you don't mind............

[jbudik]

Installed this kit over the weekend...  Wheels retract when you get to the ice. Always having to go long distances over gravel and pavement. Works like a charm!

[MrcrappieFichter]

Would using large air filled knobby tires be easiesr to pull than dragging the sled? My sled is packed and isn’t the easiest to drags behind me on long walks

[Ice Surveyor]

I've had this idea for a sled drag for a few years now.  Someone needs to come up with a scissors type aluminum cart with 4 wheels to carry the ice shantys around.  I know the Smitty sled works just fine, but if you could collaspe the sled for easy storage, that would be the perfect hauler.   

[grababrewski]

I used some Harbor Freight wheels, some aluminum rods with clips on the ends and some copper tube for bushings to make some removable wheels for my Smitty sled. When I get on the lake the wheels come off and stack in a 5 gallon bucket perfectly.

[Ice Surveyor]

Installed this kit over the weekend...  Wheels retract when you get to the ice. Always having to go long distances over gravel and pavement. Works like a charm!

Nice idea here.  When you get 4+ inches of snow on the ice, like we have here in southern WI now, you don't and or can't drag your sled easily anymore.  Seems to me it would be easier to just pull the sled with the wheels down.  I'm thinking bicycle size tires that are thin like road bikes, not mountain bikes.  Someone mentioned knobby tires?  You're not looking for traction, just a tire that will glide through the snow easily.